by Alan Watkins

awatkins@thekmgroup.co.uk

People who fear their village will be swamped by new homes are holding a monster picnic today.

Protestors to any proposal allowing development south of the A2 plan to stand shoulder to shoulder, sipping soup and nibbling bread rolls, on Meopham Green.

One of them, James Ferrin, said: “As a bastion of everything that is synonymous with rural England, Rural Gravesham is under threat from the greed of developers and the quick fix solutions proposed by Gravesham Borough Council.”

They hope hundreds will flock to the green on Saturday from 11am to 2pm.

The picnic follows a march in October (pictured) when hundreds of people turned out to protest.

Consultation on the proposals - which include nearly halving the present allocation of homes to be built and rearranging parts of the Green Belt - ends on Thursday, December 8.

The council is keen to collect the views of people to help it write its Local Development Framework.

A council spokesman said there had been a lot of nonsense about the plans.

“We aren’t encouraging people to move, and we aren’t going to build anything,” he said.

“It is about allocating sites where we could allow building.

“Our preference is that the numbers should remain steady - zero net migration.

“We also want to hear what other ideas people have.”

Mr Ferrin said: “This is potentially the last time we can make a stand before the consultation process ends.”

Further consultations are planned in the late spring once the public’s ideas are included.